Superhero Duty
by ghostanimal
Summary: Oneshot: It's been four years since Phantom Planet and Danny is deciding on if he should join the Guys in White, or go to NASA when Sam makes a shocking confession.


Disclaimer: I wish I wish I owned Danny Phantom! Desiree: -turns me into Butch Hartman- AHHHHHHHHH! CHANGE ME BACK CHANGE ME BACK! -is changed back-

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Now I expect to recieve a LOT of crap for this, so read the explaination at the bottom. I won't post the explaination here because it spoils the story.

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Danny sighed as he glanced at his college letter with a small frown. The seventeen year old had changed a lot over time. He still wore jeans, but often wore a Dumpty Humpty t-shirt or a NASA shirt. His hair grew out a little, but it was still as messy and spiky as ever.

"Another rejection honey?" his mom asked as she handed him his plate of pizza. His mom changed little. Only major change was the white hair growing. Danny never saw it, but he knew it was growing because of the hair dye in the trash cans he found on occasion. A minor change was his mom's wardrobe. She seemed to wear baggy t-shirts and sweatpants more and more while around the house and out in public rather than her jumpsuit.

"Yeah," Danny said a bit gloomly. "I know I was going way out of my league, but with the Danny Phantom fame I was sort of hoping Yale'd say yes."

"It's alright son," his dad said, pouring a mix of melted chocolate and fudge onto his pizza slice. Unlike his mom, his dad let the white hair grow, thinking nothing of it. Actually, he said it made him feel smarter. And you just try making Jack Fenton stop wearing his precious orange spandex suit. You just try. "You still have that promised job with the Guys in White!"

"Not to mention NASA agreed to let you in if you went to two years of community college to bring up your grades," Jazz reminded him a bit softly, smiling at him. She was home, since she just finished her finals at Harvard. She cut her long hair to shoulder length, donating the long ponytail to Locks of Love. She also wore a black sleeveless shirt and capri jeans most days.

"But more importantly, the Guys in White job!" Jack spoke up, taking a giant bite of pizza. Danny smiled and took a smaller bit of his.

"I know. It would be awesome working for the Guys in White, you know, cause ever since that one dude took over the company, they're actually good at hunting ghosts," Danny reasoned. "I'd be so far ahead of the game and it'd be easy. Then again, I'll miss my chance to study in space like I've dreamed of."

"You have loved space for as long as I can remember," Maddie agreed.

"I think you need to go with the GIW," Jazz said a bit softly. "You've heard the rumors, right?"

"That Vlad might be back from space?" Maddie asked a bit quietly. Jack stayed silent, eating his pizza slowly as Danny listened in interest.

"What if they're true," Jazz asked, picking at the toppings of her pizza slice as she stared at it. "Vlad can probably pull of secretly getting a ghost army up."

"I know," Danny replied a bit glumly as he put the second slice of pizza on his dad's plate. "I'll talk to you later about it."

"Where are you going?" Maddie asked.

"I got a date with Sam!" Danny yelled as he went out the door.

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Sam and Danny snuggled together on the blanket. Danny held her close and let himself enjoy the smell of her shampoo and the park's small lake. Sam's hair grew out some. She had on a normal black t-shirt and dark jeans on now rather than her old outfit. Still wore the gothic make-up and boots, but Danny liked it.

"Do you happen to know if the rumors are true?" Sam suddenly asked. "You know, concerning Vlad?"

"No idea," Danny admitted after a long sigh. "Mom and Jazz want me to join the Guys in White over that."

"Are you going to join?" Sam asked, pulling away slightly to sit across from him.

"I don't know," Danny said. "I would be great with the Guys in White, but NASA is my dream, you know?"

"If you join the Guys in White, you basically do Danny Phantom duty again," Sam pointed out.

"Yeah, so I already know what I'd be doing," Danny replied.

"But it'd be more dangerous."

"And? I can handle it. I am Danny Phantom."

Sam sighed heavily and looked out at the lake. She bit her lip slightly as a small breeze picked up.

"Danny, do you remember Spiderman?" she asked.

"Duh! He was one of the best superheroes ever! Why?" Danny asked with a goofy grin.

"Not just that, but Spiderman was the first comic to truly show the emotional and physical challenges of superhero life," Sam replied seriously. Danny's grin instantly disappeared, realizing that she had something important to say. "He was not only a superhero, but he was human. The people around him were always in danger, the people he loved killed or injured and his human life conflicting with his superhero one."

"Sam, I handled it before. I can handle it now, especially because I'll have you," Danny said, smiling slightly in a comforting way.

"No you won't," she said a bit quietly. "Danny, the only reason I started dating you when I did is because you didn't have to be a superhero. The Guys in White company was taken over by a guy who knew what he was doing, and it left you to be normal. There's a reason I didn't ask you out beforehand. I don't want to be the girlfriend of a superhero."

"So...you don't like me, or something?" Danny asked, biting his lower lip as he clutched the grass.

"No. I do like you. I love you actually," she admitted. "But Danny, being the girlfriend, fiancee, wife, lover, whatever, of a superhero is always dangerous. I don't want to kiss you goodbye every morning before you go to work and secretly fear that instead of you coming home, I get a phone call from a coworker telling me of your death. I just can't handle seeing you seriously injured every day when you come home. The ghosts are tougher now Danny. They do serious harm compared to what they used to."

Danny just stayed silent, hanging onto every word. He didn't want to admit it, but it was true.

"And what if we have kids? Children and lovers are always the ones the villians go to kidnap or threaten to kill. If you're going to be a hero, one of the biggest rules is to never have emotional attachments that villians can play with," Sam said, biting her lip harder as she stared down at the blanket. "Danny, I love you. I would love to be with you forever, be Mrs. Fenton and us having a wonderful life and kids together. I just don't want to be Mrs. Phantom too.

"I'm not saying that you have to be in NASA or with the Guys in White, I just think you should know that I can't be the girlfriend or wife of a superhero. You don't even have to make a choice now...Just know that it's something you need to consider."

"I understand," Danny said after a long, painful silence between them. Sam looked relieved. "Sam...I think I'm going to join the Guys in White though. I love you too, but I think it's what I'm meant to do."

Sam looked a little heartbroken, but smiled and nodded.

"You are a good superhero," Sam admitted, voice cracking slightly. "I'll always love you, but...you know..."

"I'll always love you too," Danny murmured as he leaned over and kissed her softly.

And that was the end of Sam and Danny as a couple.

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Meanwhile, Vlad was in the old secret lab of his ex-mansion. Now it was sealed off permanently. Not even the government entered it these days. It was completely abandoned.

Vlad looked tired, unshaven and determined. He glanced up and watched the dozens of halfa clones growing in the giant tubes.

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**I personally agree with Sam. Just my opinon. I mean, yeah. You're dating a superhero! But, you're dating a superhero. You're bound to be in danger, forced to see the one you love so much be hurt all the time, kissing them goodbye before the head to work with the knowledge that this may be the last time you ever see them alive...I wouldn't want to be married or date a superhero. **

**Yes, the Guys in White still exist, but I made somebody new take over the company.**

**Yes, Vlad is back. **

**I MIGHT do a second chapter.**


End file.
